District sports complex to be revamped

NASHIK: The district sports committee will add new facilities worth Rs 40 lakh to the Zilla Parishad's district sports complex - Chhatrapati Shivaji Krida Maidan, located opposite the district collectorate.

The districts sports officer, Sanjay Sabnis said that the facilities will be in place by the end of this year. The decision was taken in a meeting held at the district collectorate on Monday.

"The meeting was chaired by the district collector - Vilas Patil. It was finalized that four volley ball courts, two kabaddi courts, two kho-kho courts and a special basketball-cum-skating arena for children would be set up," Sabnis added.

Schools and clubs always require such playgrounds, where competition and tournaments can be organized. Currently, very few schools have skating rinks or exclusive areas for games like kabaddi, kho-kho and basketball, the sports officer said.

"The facilities constructed will further benefit all the school students as they will be provided with a common area to practice, compete, and learn games," Sabnis said.

Sabnis added that all facilities will be constructed by the public works department (PWD) and will be ready by year-end. The officer added that the funds were provided by the district committee and they did not have to rely on any funds from the state.

Apart from this, the district sports office is also planning to host three state-level games in the district by year-end. "We plan to organize state-level competitions for rifle shooting, roll-ball and fencing competitions that can be hosted at the divisional level sports complex in the city," Sabnis said.

The divisional sports complex is being built at Adgaon Naka after the garbage depot was shifted from Panchavati to Vilholi and some of the works are nearing completion. Some of the courts have already been opened, while the laying of the synthetic track and stadium construction is still going on.

The officer further said that the sports committee also plans to develop the Maidan at the cost of Rs 8 crore, the plan for which had already been sent to the state government.

"The Rs 8-crore plan was sent to the state government long back, and there was no decision on the same yet. One of the reasons that the proposal is yet to be decided on was that the district sports complex and the divisional sports complex - both were inside the city. But there is likely to be some development," Sabnis said.